Just Browsing: Relapse – Don Caballero, Fuck the Facts, Skinless, & Suffocation
By Jason Jordan
Here we are again with the second installment of “Just Browsing,” which delivers rapid-fire reviews of albums that are connected in one or more ways. Last time I focused on Neur-Isis-core. This time, however, I chose to center on records put out by Relapse. Due to the label’s counterintuitive policy of not sending promos to most webzines, though, the only reviews you’ll likely read are those in print magazines, or, as I’m about to demonstrate, in a webzine where a reviewer takes it upon himself to drum up some interest for the bands. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to support the bands without supporting the label at the same time, but the following discs do indeed warrant attention. Be sure to brush up on the new Dysrhythmia, too.
Another way the following releases are connected is that they represent my full-length introduction to each band. In other words, besides a few songs, I’ve never heard a complete long-player by DC, FtF, Sk, or Su, so take that into consideration as every group has an extensive discography.
Don Caballero – World Class Listening Problem
Relapse Records – RR6693-2 – 2006
World Class Listening Problem marks not only the return of the long-running instrumental group
Don Caballero, but also their departure from Touch & Go Records – the label they called home for years and several LPs. What’s on tap is clean and tasteful music that’s not overtly complex like the output of labelmates
Dysrhythmia, though one can tell virtuosos are underneath the restrained performers who cut these tracks to tape. At times
DC resort to melancholy, while, at others, they opt for brightness as in “Railroad Cancellation” and “Palm Trees in the Fecking Bahamas.” Sludge (“Mmmmm Acting, I Love Me Some Good Acting”), jazz (“Sure We Had Knives Around,” “I’m Goofballs for Bozzo Jazz”), and
Totimoshi-esque metal (“And and and, He Lowered the Twin Down”) make appearances, too. The musicianship is first-class, yet the replay value leaves much to be desired.
7/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Don Caballero Website
Official Relapse Records Website
Fuck the Facts – Stigmata High-Five
Relapse Records – RR6595-2 – 2006
Despite having more Splits, EPs, and LPs than days in a year, I’m hoping
Stigmata High-Five is the end of their label-jumping and the beginning of stability for grind/tech death enthusiasts
Fuck the Facts. Led by growling female Mel, the melding of grindcore and technical death metal on
SH-F proves the band can rival any of their labelmates in both the songwriting and musicianship department. There’s a definite edge to
Fuck the Facts, which is delivered with tornado-like ferocity, but repeated listening is absolutely required for anyone who actually wants to recall the songs after they peter out. Still, tracks such as “Carve Your Heart Out” and “Taken from the Nest” are truly as intense as the titles would have you believe. Their umpteenth record is the best I’ve heard from Relapse this year, even though the length (34 minutes) isn’t what I’d call great. There’s some bonus footage, nonetheless.
8/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Fuck the Facts Website
Official Relapse Records Website
Skinless – Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead
Relapse Records – RR6446-2 – 2006
Brutal death incumbents
Skinless utilize the soundclip like no other band – “War – it’s fantastic!” or so claims “A Unilateral Disgust.” Fronted by guttural vocals, which are typical of the subgenre,
Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead capitalizes on all things war. Steamrolling through tune after tune, the New York unit conjure scenes as chilling as what’s on their latest cover art. Often mechanical and machine-like in regards to precision, the razor-y production lends jaggedness to the recording, and most tracks just plain slay. Unfortunately, similar to
Fuck the Facts’s newest entry, this one lasts a brief 37 minutes – including a 6-minute cover of
Black Sabbath’s “Wicked World.”
7.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Skinless Website
Official Relapse Records Website
Suffocation – Suffocation
Relapse Records – RR6584-2 – 2006
Possibly the most renowned and heralded group of this whole bunch,
Suffocation return after the letdown that was/is
Souls to Deny. The metal populous has spoken, and
Self-Titled is evidently a return to form that surprisingly gives even milestones such as
Effigy of the Forgotten and
Pierced from Within a proverbial run for their money. While I’m not exactly familiar with their oeuvre, their music strikes me as too bland and lifeless – despite Mullen’s intelligible growling, Smith’s tight drumming, and the sharp, sharp riffing. Perhaps I was expecting a more exciting release overall, but was left with something less entertaining in the end. It’s definitely above average, however, and par for the Relapse course. Also of note is the 19-track sampler that accompanies
Self-Titled. I can’t comment on any other 2006 Relapse efforts simply because I haven’t heard more than one song from each, but I’m betting, like the ones above, some are pretty good.
6.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Suffocation Website
Official Relapse Records Website
